1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to managing a content stored in a communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Mobile phones in conformity with the IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication 2000) standard are configured in a way that an IC card, that is referred to as UIM (User Identity Module), is attachable to and removable from the mobile phone. UIM is issued to a subscriber to a communication carrier operating a mobile communication network. The UIM stores subscriber information of a subscriber, for example, a phone number assigned to the subscriber by the communication carrier. When the owner of UIM attaches the UIM to a mobile phone, the mobile phone is enabled to communicate using the subscriber information stored in the UIM. Mobile phones conforming to the IMT-2000 standard are also capable of performing data communications. Some of them are also capable of communicating with a WWW (World Wide Web) server apparatus connected to the Internet, obtaining various data and/or various application programs, or the like (in the following, the data and programs will be referred to simply as “content”), and storing the obtained content in a storage unit such as a non-volatile memory, and making use of the obtained content.
A content to be distributed is sometimes updated by a distributor of the content. In some cases, when a content to be distributed is updated at a WWW server apparatus, content that has already been distributed to a mobile phone needs to be updated accordingly. A known technique of updating a content that has been distributed to a mobile phone is that the server apparatus distributing a content stores telephone numbers of mobile phones to which the content has been distributed, and sends a message updating the content to the mobile phones by using the telephone numbers stored in the mobile phones (for example, see, Japanese Patent Publication JP11-A-25017).
Application of the technology disclosed in JP11-A-25017 makes it possible to instruct a mobile phone to control a storage unit to delete a content stored in the mobile phone or to disable use of a content by transmitting a message from a WWW server apparatus. However, an instruction to delete the content stored in a mobile phone using UIM or to disable a use of the content by transmitting such a message from a WWW server apparatus may cause problems as shown below.
For example, use of content distributed from a WWW server apparatus may be allowed as a condition of payment of monthly fees to an operator of the WWW server apparatus. The operator of a WWW server apparatus that provides such a service needs to make the content stored in the mobile phone unusable, when a person who has downloaded the content to his/her mobile phone stops paying the fee for use of the content. Consequently, the WWW server apparatus obtains a telephone number of the corresponding mobile phone, and tries to delete the content in the mobile phone by transmitting a message to the mobile phone having the corresponding telephone number.
Now, it is assumed that a user of a mobile phone obtains a content from a WWW server apparatus by using his/her own mobile phone (for this example, referred to as mobile phone A), and stores the content in mobile phone A. Then, he/she borrows another mobile phone (for this example, referred to as mobile phone B) that stores the same content, and attaches his/her UIM to mobile phone B. In this case, a message transmitted from the WWW server apparatus is transmitted to the borrowed mobile phone B attached with the UIM. The content that has been downloaded to mobile phone B by its owner is deleted. The content that is essentially to be deleted and is stored in mobile phone A, to that the content has been downloaded, is not deleted. Consequently, the result is against intent of the operator of the WWW server apparatus. Furthermore, it puts an owner of mobile phone B at a disadvantage.
The present invention is accomplished in view of the above circumstances, and has an object of providing a communication terminal using UIM, a program, and storage medium. In the communication terminal using UIM, when a message disabling use of a content is received not by a communication terminal containing the content to be disabled, but by another communication terminal containing the same content, the content stored in a storage unit of the communication terminal which has received the message is not disabled.